


Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 25: Atlantis, Arise!

by specspectacle, Twilight-Owls (LadyTorix)



Series: Afterspark Podcast: Transformers G1 [26]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Embedded Video, Episode Commentary, Episode Review, Links, Podcast, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 20-30 Minutes, Swearing, Video, YouTube, transcript
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21620941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/specspectacle/pseuds/specspectacle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTorix/pseuds/Twilight-Owls
Summary: The Autobots are chased by a whole dang city, Decepticons take over Washington D.C. and Megatron gets the world's comfiest chair.
Series: Afterspark Podcast: Transformers G1 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1220114
Kudos: 2





	Afterspark Podcast: G1 Episode 25: Atlantis, Arise!

**Author's Note:**

> If you need an audio only version of the podcast please check out the links at the end of the transcript!

[Stinger]

O: Diametric opposites on idiocy!

S: Yeah.

[Music]

O: Hello! And welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs!

O: And today we're gonna be talking about episode number 25: Atlantis Arise! Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Sure.

O: Today we open with a super grumpy old man who was not happy about being woken up in the middle of his afternoon nap. 

S: Soundwave has apparently found an underwater city.

O: And I don't know why Megatron is so mad at Soundwave here cuz, 9 times out of 10, Soundwave’s gonna have a point if he's telling you something, especially if he's waking you up and hey! We're back in the Decepticon base proper this episode. I feel like it's been so long since we've seen it.

S: Obviously it probably has.

O: [snorts]

S: The cons leave their base to go investigate this possible new source of energy.

O: I love that they leave out the top of their base to go fi- to go find an underwater city but sure.

S: So the thing that they do is, you know how the base or whatever, the boarding tower- exiting tower goes out of the water. It goes out of the water, it opens up, then they all fly out and then go into the water again.

O: Yeah, yeah, after they like get closer to the destination then they dive into the water.

S: Just, like, that seems like a, just what was the point? They apparently arrive at their destination where Laserbeak and Buzzsaw meet them and return to Soundwave.

O: Megatron even complements them, good birbs! Good birbs.

S: Yes, very good. 

O: Megatron dives into the ocean and the other Cons follow.

S: And lo! An underwater city is revealed.

O: Specs! Specs! Why is it on fire? It’s underwater! 

S: I don't know. Deep sea bacteria? Thermal vents? Who knows? Who cares?

O: [Laughter] 

S: And um, Starscream's an idiot and charges the city with the other two Seekers following behind him like ducklings, despite Megatron loudly objecting to this plan. 

O: Did we mention they're in jet mode underwater here? Because they totally are.

S: That's not how jets work. At all. They hit an invisible wall and get thrown back.

O: And then they float there like stunned fish, and I love it.

S: So, when Starscream charged he shouted, “Waiting is for timid zap mice,” so when they fail Megatron retorts with, “And rushing forward blindly is for dolts!”

O: [Laughter] We're introduced to the Sub-Atlanticans, the inhabitants of this underwater city.

S: Meet the catfish people- they're green and telepathic. 

O: Soundwave catches on to this real quick.

S: Mm-hmm. Starscream continues to make “great” decisions today- attempting to shoot the Sub-Atlantican King and two of his soldiers. 

O: Instead, the Sub-Atlanticans shoot him and threaten the Decepticons until Megatron blasts the rocks behind them.

S: Oh, we're off to a great start.

O: Aren't we? The King communicates to his guards telepathically with a high-pitched gibbering noise and also keeps moving- moving his mouth, so make of that what you will.

S: Yeah. According to the TF wiki, if you take this noise and slow it down they are actually saying things here. Something to the effect of, “They suspect- lower your weapons and do not be aggressive.”

O: Which is actually a method they use later in this episode so that makes sense and it's kinda neat.

S: Mm-hmm.

O: Starscream, however, finds this  _ suspicious  _ and orders Soundwave to unscramble the noise.

S: The King offers to be Megatron's ally and leads them into Sub-Atlantica. And Megatron. Why? 

O: [snorts] He [the Sub-Atlantican king] explains that though they have an abundance of energy they must remain deep underwater to use it.

S: I mean, this seems like the perfect place for them to use it considering they’re catfish people, but ok.

O: [Laughter] They do fine on land later!

S: I guess. Um, to which Megatron retorts, that they'll stay underwater, too - until they can take it from them. 

O: Megatron. He is standing  _ right _ there! Why would you say this aloud?

S: Because Megatron is an egotistical asshole.

O: No.

S: Let’s be real.

O: He's a dumbass, that's what he is!

S: He’s both. 

O: He can be two things.

S: He can be complicated.

O: If- even if that complication is egotistical dumbass.

S: Later, we see that Soundwave has manufactured a fuck ton of, you know, cubes for Energon and the Sub-Atlanticans are putting Energon into said cubes.

O: In the meantime, it seems that Megs has gotten chummy enough with the king that they're on a first-name basis, as he calls him Nergill.

S: They're good chums now. Or chumps. 

O: They're all chumps. They're planning on taking over the world. Surface world, that is. 

S: Do these guys [the Sub-Atlanticans] have enemies? Are they at war with octopi? Are there more of this race [species?] around that aren't assholes? These are the important questions. 

O: Yep. But today at the Ark, the world's most bizarre football game, including: one human, one Volkswagen, one Jeep, and several dinosaurs. 

S: At least Spike is wearing all of the, you know, correct uh, personal protective equipment for this game.

O: For once! Still not sure if that's gonna help against the dinosaurs but okay.

S: Or running into the Jeep or the Volkswagen.

O: [Laughter]

S: Well, anything. Yeah. It appears that it's some Autobots and Spike vs the Dinobots.

O: I-uh, can we talk about how Bumblebee is, like, holding back Grimlock by  _ himself! _ In the middle of this?

S: I feel vaguely like Grimlock was just, you know-

Both: Being nice-

O: Because- because they kind of like Bee. I could totally see it if they kind of liked Bee.

S: It's like they've explained the concept of the game and not brutally murdering the people you're playing against.

O: We're not trying to kill Bumblebee, got it. 

S: Wheeljack comes out and says that Optimus needs them, ending the game. 

O: In order to get out of playing with the Dinobots, the Autobots volunteer for a mission.

S: To the depths of the ocean! 

O: Of course uh, or, you know, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” but with Autobots, sure.

B: [Laughter]

O: Bumblebee, Spike, Wheeljack, Hound, and Brawn all take off.

S: Oh, the dream team. Apparently. And they arrive at the edge of the ocean, driving straight on in.

O: How does a convertible ceiling he puts up for this?

S: I mean, he doesn't want his upholstery to get wet. That would just- honestly, he might smell like wet dog? 

O: Wouldn't everything get wet when he transforms underwater, anyway? 

S: Maybe his upholstery goes into subspace before it can get wet? 

O: [Laughter]

S: I don’t know. Bee doesn't seem to care about his upholstery as Spike exits underwater in a swimsuit- and by swimsuit, I mean it's just like a speedo, or something. And an oxygen tank.

O: Did it have to be a speedo? 

S: It was the eighties? It was… the thing? I guess? I don’t know what men wore as swimsuits in the eighties. It was- yeah, it was the hot thing? I don't know, we didn't exist yet, remember?

O: [Laughter]

S: And then Spike proceeds to tell the Autobots about Atlantis. 

O: You know, while wearing a face mask. Those are so easy to talk in. But then they're attacked by the Sub-Atlanticans.

S: I find it really questionable that the King is on the front lines here but I guess he's a man of action who leads his people by example?

O: I think you mean a catfish-man of action.

B: [Laughter] 

S: Yeah. 

O: The Seekers also attack during this, um, still while underwater.

S: Still not how jets work. 

O:  _ Space jets! _ [Laughter]

S: Well, that's true.

O: [Laughter] 

S: Starscream shouldn't be able to fly in space, either, but he demonstratebly can. 

O: Wheeljack says he'll hold the Decepticons off as the other Autobots escape.

S: Starscream attempts to follow but Brawn lobs a gun at him. You know, like a harpoon!

O: It hits and Starscream completely forgets he's in the water because he crashes into the seafloor just like he would have gone down if he'd been, like- you know, in the air, and gotten hit with something. 

S: It's so dumb. 

O: [Laughter] It’s wonderful!

S: Wheeljack is able to keep the others from being followed but, ultimately, is himself captured, with Nergill demanding that his men bring Wheeljack in.

O: This time, however, when Nergill tries to scramble his communication, Soundwave records it and unscrambles it.

S: Revealing to Starscream that he [Nergill] intends to develop weapons to defeat the Decepticons by experimenting on Wheeljack. Poor Wheeljack.

O: He's not having a good day.

S: He really isn't. Sometime later Sub-Atlantica rises from the ocean!

O: [snorts]

S: Because, apparently, the Sub-Atlanticans can do that. And while the Autobots attempt to escape on their water skis-

O: Are they being chased by a whole damn city?

S: Apparently so.

O: [Laughter] The Autobots make it back to shore and contact the Ark because Sub-Atlantica is heading towards... [gasp]  _ Washington DC!? _

S: It's the obligatory Washington DC episode. It also- this comes- well, I guess it explains why the Decepticons were flying at first, because I thought the Decepticons were on the West-

B: The West Coast. 

S: Yeah.

O: I mean, probably, but I still think it's funny. [Laughter]

S: It is. Megatron rallies the Decepticons and they fly off.

O: As they do, Nergill calls them ‘comrades’ in a threatening way, so we know he's evil.

S: It was the eighties.

O: The Iron Curtain was worse than giant evil alien robots, don't you know. Seriously, though. The Red Scare with a hell of a drug, man. 

S: Yeah. 

O: We see Starscream hiding and spying on Nergill, even though he flew off with the others two seconds ago. 

S: Starscream paid Thundercracker to be his body double again because he needed to dig up dirt on the King.

O: I’m just confused why he had to do this at all. He already has the recording from Soundwave. Soundwave is a reliable source of information within the Cons!

S: He is but Starscream- Starscream likes having his own secondary confirmation, I guess? I don't know. 

O: And back with the Autobots, they've apparently driven straight from Oregon to Washington DC.

S: Isn’t that a three-day trip?

O: Not if you drive fast enough! 

S: How many tickets did they get?

O: None, they just shove Prowl in front with his siren on and called it good. 

S: One way to do it, I guess. And, um, the Decepticons arrive in DC. 

O: Thundercracker apparently got tired of his disguise because he's back to his regular color scheme now.

S: The Atlanticans set up some sort of dome of invulnerability after Megs bullies them a bit. 

O: When the Autobots arrive on scene a fight breaks out between the Autobots, the Decepticons and the Atlanticans.

S: During said fight, the Autobots are like, “Shit, we got to be careful because, ‘Oh noes, think of the history that could be get destroyed here!’”

O: Yeah. But in Chesapeake Bay, Bumblebee and Spike are attempting to break into the city to save Wheeljack. 

S: [Sighs] Wheeljack is currently the subject of a super not fun experiment by our buddy Nergill. And Starscream attempts to steal the Magnetic Dysfunction Ray being used on Wheeljack, but Nergill just zaps him with it and takes him prisoner, too.

O: I don't know why Starscream thought this would work, telling him to give it to him instead of, you know, just taking it from Nergill. 

S: Starscream is a himbo, he is such a himbo. 

O: It's his defining characteristic.

S: Pretty and dumb. 

O: Yup. The king then leaves the room but for some reason the device doesn't work as well on Decepticons and Starscream is both still conscious and can still kinda move. So great job there, leaving the room without checking things, buddy.

S: He was overconfident and I mean, I kinda- I'm going with Starscream's Null Ray being the thing that's interfering because of, yeah, I think it probably has a similar function? And so he's used to it.

O: I'm actually gonna go with Starscream being bigger than Wheeljack maybe because their sizes are pretty- are different enough that maybe he didn't use enough power on him or something.

S: That's possible. So Starscream crawls over to Wheeljack and hooks something into him but Spike and Bee rush in, objecting vociferously because it- that's possibly hurting Wheeljack.

O: Starscream giveth not a single-ith fuck! 

S: Yeah. Bumblebee knocks Starscream on his ass, though, and he had Spike get Wheeljack back online.

O: So then Bee, Wheeljack, and Spike followed Nergill back to the others in DC proper.

S: Nergill promptly takes out all the fighting Autobots before Spike and the others catch up with them. 

O: How are they this far behind him? They were right behind him a few seconds ago and he's on foot. It's not like he was, like, outrunning them, or something. 

S: Terrible traffic? I don't know.

O: [Sighs]

S: Wheeljack comms the Dinobots for help. 

O: I'm not sure how the Dinobots know where Washington DC is but  _ okay. _

S: Maybe they’ve got a Wheeljack radar.

O: I think you mean dad-dar.

S: I'm also kind of wondering whether they could fly there and, like, actually depending on how fast it takes them to fly there- they're probably flying at supersonic speeds.

O: [Laughter] You’re gonna make a supersonic man outta me! 

S: Speaking of DC, the Atlanticans have taken over the Capitol building and Megatron has taken over the Lincoln Memorial, going so far as to remove Mr. Lincoln from his chair and take it for himself.

O: This is so fucking dumb. And I love it. One, he's weirdly gentle when moving this statue. Just sort of sets it off to the side instead of, like, I don't know, yeeting it into the street or something.

S: And two, I'm pretty sure that that statue is not removable.

O: Three, he sighs and says, “This chair was made for me!” 

S: He knows what he wants and what he wants is a big, damn chair.

O: Well, in all fairness he probably hasn't had a decently sized chair since they left Cybertron.

S: True. Both the Decepticons and the Atlanticans plot to destroy each other as the Dinobots land in DC to cause some chaos. So yeah, they were- that was obviously a supersonic flight, considering that this took like five minutes.

O: [Laughter] Naturally, they start smashing up all of the shit. 

S: Literally. They're smashing up force fields like they're glass.

O: Of course, Grimlock’s like, “I'm here to save your ass,  _ again _ , Prime.” 

S: Megatron attempts to fight Grimlock but Grim just takes Fusion Cannon fire to the face, no problem at all. And then he picks Megs up in his mouth and tosses him around like a rag doll.

O: While they continue to fight, Nergill shows up and, as he doesn't have a clear shot, attempts to zap them both with uh, his ray thing.

S: Yeah, but not before Starscream catches up and calls him a “treacherous hydro weasel.”

O: Oh, Starscream, so is this one of those, you know, “no one gets to kill Megatron but me” things, you think? 

S: Hmm.

O: Obviously.

S: His- is Megatron his dearly detested?

O: Yeah, that's actually probably a pretty good summary of these two idiots. 

S: Yeah. Bee and Wheeljack catch up and tackle Starscream to get the Magnetic Dysfunction Ray from him. God, that sounds like-

O: It's MDR! That’s what they should have called it. But, this is funny because Spike just bails out of Bee while Bee is transforming. [Laughter]

S: It's just, unfortunately, that name- just makes me think of erectile dysfunction.

O: [Laughter] You know what would be funnier, uh, that is actually what they called erectile dysfunction for robots? 

Both: [Laughter]

S: Or the equivalent?

O: Yes, and like, Nergill either didn’t know that and like, so you have all the Cons trying not to, like, laugh through all of this, or did know that and is being an asshole.

S: [Laughter]

O: Anyway, Starscream either tries to throw the ray or it goes out of his hand, ah, but Grimlock catches the ray and just breaks it. 

S: How big is that gun again? It was Nergill sized but then it was perfectly sized for Starscream and Grimlock.

O: Oh, everything can masshift in this show, didn't you know? 

S: I guess. I don’t know. Apparently, with the ray broken, its effects on the other Bots are completely nullified, even though that makes no real sense. 

O: [snorts] While the Cons and Atlanticans retreat, Megatron kicks the Washington Monument just because he can. Yes, he really is that fuckin petty.

S: He's a petty, petty asshole. 

O: Um-hm! 

S: And Optimus’ haste to protect the Washington Monument, he leaves behind an afterimage as he runs toward, you know, the obelisk to catch it.

O: [Laughter] It's a doozy of an animation error.

S: And Grimlock tells him, “Good catch!” and then nonchalantly helps Prime get the obelisk back upright.

O: Uh, Slag has magical fire breath and uh, heals the monument almost instantly!

S: Why does this work on stone? 

O: Magical fire breath!

S: I guess. Optimus compliments the Dinobots and says it's time to take care of Sub-Atlantica.

O: But first! A two-second clip of them shoving Mr. Lincoln back into his chair.

S: That was a weird choice that they made, but I guess they had to show-

O: Everything getting put back to normal?

S: I guess? Unfortunately the chair now has Megatron cooties.

O: [Laughter] I love it. 

S: [Laughter] ]Megatron attempts to confront Nergal but he uses the impending Autobot attack as an excuse to get out of the conversation.

O: [Laughter] I mean, I guess it’s an excuse.

S: Yeah. 

O: Spike, Bee, and Wheeljack followed Nergill into the depths of the city as he intends to blow the city and everyone on it to kingdom come.

S: The King's murder-suicide scheme is not gonna work out so well and his subjects are going to wish that they had, you know, elections.

O: Yeah, but uh, also Soundwave sends Rumble and Ravage after them.

S: But when they see Nergill attempting to blow everyone up they attack him instead.

O: Because they actually have a fucking brain. Everyone uh, then evacuates, and we mean everyone: including some Bots that were definitely not here prior. 

S: Seriously, when did Trailbreaker get here?

O: I think Ironhide’s pretending to be a medic again because I'm pretty damn sure Ratchet hasn't been here at the entire time up until this point.

S: That's actually a very nicely animated explosion, in all honesty. 

O: [Laughter] And, with that explosion, our episode ends for today. Join us next time for our first anniversary special. The Bay movies are coming for us, or at least the first one is. Pray for us, guys, pray for us.

S: Uh, goody.

O: [Laughter] I hope you like pain, Specs!

S: I’ve already had to watch it at least once, I know we’re gonna have to do it again. 

O: Yeah, we're watching this twice for you guys! Twice! It’s a bad movie, it did not deserve one watch.

S: Yeah. Would you like to rec the first one?

O: Sure, our first fic recommendation is, “The Dead Unsung Heroes Club,” which is by cret2. The continuity is IDW, rating is T. It is slash and the pairings are Star/Jack, um, and also past MegaStar. So, Star/Jack- so Starscream/Wheeljack and Megatron/Starscream, essentially, and our main characters for this are Starscream and Wheeljack. Other characters kind of come up in passing, even though they're not listed here.

And, in summary, “ One moment, Wheeljack is dead. The next he's on the inside of a dark bubble-shaped planet listening as Starscream explains that Unicron was defeated, they're somewhere midway between life and death, and Starscream hauled Wheeljack back there because he needs an engineer's help upgrading some busted Unicron parts into a machine that will let Starscream get back to the living world.

But the longer Wheeljack helps Starscream, and the more he talks with the other mechs scattered through limbo with them, the more certain he is that Starscream is keeping secrets from Wheeljack about the purpose of this project—first and foremost that his motives aren't nearly as selfish as he's led Wheeljack to believe.”

And the character or theme rec this is based on is Star/Jack because uh, Starscream and Wheeljack interacted. That was literally my only excuse for throwing this in here and it is a one shot.

S: And our second recommendation today is “Rest and Relaxation” by Pteropoda (SilentP). Uh, continuity-wise it's, uh, in the G1 Cartoon continuity. It's rated G, it's gen. There's no pairings and the characters are: Wheeljack and Ratchet. And also one really angry raven-

O: [Laughter]

S: Though that might be a bit of a spoiler. So, in summary: “Wheeljack takes Ratchet away from the medbay to give him some time to relax away from his duties. Nature conspires against them.” The theme is basically: Wheeljack. Because there aren't a whole lot of episodes that really-

O: Focus on him?

S: Yeah, and it's a one shot.

O: Alrighty.

S: And let's go to our art recommendations.

O: Yes, so our recommendation for today is- I believe on their Tumblr in their description they call themselves Sea, but in other locations they're listed as Waferdeer, so either of those. They seem like they did More Than Meets the Eye. I think everything I recommend today or most of what I recommended today is pixel art and, sadly, there's not any recent art on their tumblr but they have some lovely sprite work posted that is still up there. Mostly, as I said, More Than Meets The Eye but there are some G1 stuff too and we've linked some they're lovely pixel today. We will also be linking to their Tumblr and you can find other links on their page or ours. 

And our three pieces today are pixel Megatron and Flowers. Uh, basically, it involves kind of the memory flowers from the comics and I just think it's very pretty.

S: That is very pretty, I like how they used colors in his legs.

O: Yeah, nah, he look good! I'm happy about this. And then we have a Dratchet piece of Drift holding, ah, Ratchet.

S: Oh, and both of these- these past two are animated. 

O: Oh, yes! 

S: Which I don't think you mentioned.

O: I didn't, so good point, um, but yeah it's- it's very sweet and I like it.

S: Very, very pretty.

O: And then, our last one actually isn't pixel art but it is, ah, Drift and Rodimus sitting next to each other. It is also very, very cute, so I quite like both of these, er, all of these. Probably the Megatron one’s my favorite but ah, that's predictable. I even tried to find other accounts for them so if I find anything else when I'm doing the show notes for this I'll link to it, but I wasn't seeing anything so, hey, if they're out there, I hope they're doing well because their art was really good!

S: Mm-hmm. And that just about wraps it up for us today. Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as a Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter @AftersparkPod (all one word), and various other locations by searching for, “Afterspark Podcast,” such as AO3, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Youtube, just to name a few. Until next time, I'm Specs.

O: And I'm Owls.

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music]

**Author's Note:**

> **Fanfic Recommendations:**
> 
>   * [The Dead Unsung Heroes Club](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17316665) by [ckret2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ckret2/pseuds/ckret2)
>   * [Rest and Relaxation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9425531) by [Pteropoda (SilentP)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentP/pseuds/Pteropoda)
> 

> 
> **Fanartist Recommendation: Sea / Waferdeer**
> 
>   * [Tumblr](https://waferdeer.tumblr.com/)
> 

> 
> Favorite Art:
> 
>   * [Memory Flower Megs](https://waferdeer.tumblr.com/post/146973907306/i-dont-like-how-this-turned-out-but-i)
>   * [Dratchet](https://waferdeer.tumblr.com/post/143766691865/dratchet-bc-ye-uv-thank-you-for-the-request)
>   * [Rodi and Drift](https://waferdeer.tumblr.com/post/146629566166/i-dont-really-draw-too-much-around-pixels-so-now)
> 

> 
> **Where to find us:**
> 
>   * [Anchor](https://anchor.fm/aftersparkpodcast)
>   * [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AftersparkPod)
>   * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Imo2wtgyxc6dc5ayfomcavnitaa)
>   * [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/afterspark-podcast/id1452120342)
>   * [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/Afterspark-Podcast)
>   * [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/afterspark-podcast?refid=stpr#_=_)
>   * [Twitter](https://twitter.com/@AftersparkPod)
>   * [Tumblr](https://afterspark-podcast.tumblr.com/)
>   * [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4cYaXdC4dtgl7a_paS6vg#_=_)
> 

> 
> You can also find us on our personal Tumblrs [@twilight-owl](http://twilight-owl.tumblr.com/) and [@specspectacle](http://specspectacle.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
